Chat Noir Finds Out
by L.P. Geon
Summary: This is the simple, straight-forward tale of how Chat Noir found out Ladybug's true identity and how he dealt with it. He dealt with it expertly like the heroic cat he was and definitely didn't mess anything up. Nope, he didn't mess anything up at all. [Adrienette/Marichat/Adrien being a complete dork]
1. The Day Chat Noir Found Out

**Chapter 1: _The Day Chat Noir Found Out_**

* * *

Chat Noir found out Ladybug's identity.

He didn't mean to! He just slipped!

Literally, he just slipped. He'd been hurriedly jumping across Paris' rooftops trying to get back to the photo-shoot he'd abandoned because of an akuma attack when he slipped on a loose roof tile. Fortunately, the fire escape along the side of the building had stopped his fall. But he fell stomach first onto the railing and had his breath knocked from him.

He'd been so busy groaning in pain, draped across the bars like a used washcloth, that he didn't notice Ladybug dropping into the alley below and de-transforming.

He really didn't mean to see it. There was a bright light and before he knew it he'd turned his head towards the source. That was all he did.

The pink light had been fading when he did and his classmate, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, was standing in the middle of it.

That wasn't what revealed her, however. After all, just about anyone could flash some lights in a random alley way, strange as that may be, and it wouldn't automatically mean they were Ladybug.

What really revealed her was her conversation with her kwami. One he would not have heard if not for his enhanced hearing in the suit. He wouldn't have seen her kwami in the dark alley either if it wasn't for his night vision.

"Are you alright, Tikki?" Marinette had been saying to seemingly no one.

It was by sheer luck that Chat Noir didn't make his presence known to greet her. If he did, he wouldn't have found anything out. Whether it was good luck on his part, or bad luck on Ladybug's part, he didn't know.

"I'm fine, Marinette," a small voice had replied from seemingly nowhere.

"I'm sorry you had to stretch it longer than necessary, though. I couldn't find a place to de-transform."

"It's alright," came the voice again, "I'm the one who told you to keep your identity a secret. It'd be embarrassing if I was the cause for it to be revealed."

Marinette and the voice giggled together. "Here, have a cookie. Home is still a bit far so I need to transform again."

At this point, Chat Noir was beyond confused. There were bits and pieces of information that was coming together, but it was all going too fast that he couldn't put them in the right order.

It wasn't until Marinette procured a cookie from her bag and a little red, spotted thing floated out from somewhere to take it that his brain slammed all the pieces together like a freight train smashing into the side of a mountain made of other freight trains.

Because that red thing was definitely a kwami.

His suit didn't give him any zoom-in features for his eyes but he'd definitely zeroed in on that little floating thing and knew that it was definitely a kwami. A ladybug kwami.

Chat Noir couldn't breathe. It was miraculous how he managed not to scream or flail or give away his position. He definitely screamed in his head though. He internally screamed a long "whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat" that lasted until the kwami finished the cookie and Marinette transformed into Ladybug and yo-yo'd away into the sky.

He didn't know how long he hung lopsided on that fire escape railing. How long the scream of "what" in his head went on for.

It felt like hours.

He forgot about the photo-shoot.

He forgot about getting home.

Heck, he even forgot his own name.

Because Ladybug was Marinette Dupain-Cheng and he forgot everything.

* * *

He couldn't remember how he got home, but he did. Somehow, somewhere along the way, he managed that, even when all thoughts in his head consisted of only one thing.

 _Marinette, Marinette, Marinette. Marinette, Marinette, Marinette! Mari—_

"I'm hungry!" a voice said from his right.

He looked blankly in that direction. "Marinette?"

"No, I'm Plagg," Marinette—no, uh, Small McFloaty Cat said. That was definitely not Marinette because Marinette had pigtails and bluebell eyes. The floaty cat had a name; what was it? It started with a 'P'… Marinette, right? "I'm hungry and I need some Camembert."

"You need some Marinette?" he said to Small Marinette Cat, confused.

"Is that a new kind of cheese?"

"Marinette isn't cheese." There was a beat of silence as he deliberated on this. "Is she?"

"Are you alright, kid?"

"I'm totally Marinette!"

"Kid," Small Marinette Cat began, slowly, "you know your name is Adrien, right?"

Wow, rude. Of course he knew that! "Of course I do!"

"Then can you tell me your name?"

Ad— "Marinette!" Nailed it.

"Uh—"

"See, I told you I'm completely Marinette."

Small Marinette Cat sighed and pawed at his face. "Oookay, I'm just gonna go over there until your brain works again, alright?" he said as he floated away to some direction Marinette probably wasn't in. "Then you can get me some cheese."

"Okay, Marinette."

* * *

Someone help this kid.

Crossposted in tumblr and Ao3. c:


	2. The Day After Chat Noir Found Out

Apologies for the delay! Took me a while to upload this here because for some reason FFnet has some problems with my IP. I uploaded to tumblr and Ao3 just fine, but for some reason FFnet wouldn't let me upload. Anyway, thank you for your reviews last chapter and I hope you enjoy this one! c:

* * *

 **Chapter 2: _The Day After Chat Noir Found Out_**

* * *

"Plagg, what should I do?"

Adrien was hysterical. It was only fifteen minutes before he has to be driven to school. He was going to see her and he wasn't ready and he didn't know what to do.

Last night was a complete blur, and it was a surprise he even remembered he _just_ discovered Ladybug's civilian identity. Actually, no, that was the _only_ thing he remembered. What happened the rest of yesterday was a complete mystery to him.

To add to the mystery, that very morning he woke up—he didn't remember falling asleep either—the first thing Plagg did was _not_ ask for cheese, but to gently remind him that his name was Adrien Agreste. He couldn't fathom why. At the back of his head, he vaguely remembered a lot of Marinettes, but it couldn't have been so bad that he'd forgotten his own name, right?

…right?

In any case, today was a brand new day. Today was the day after he found out Ladybug was actually Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the girl who sat behind him in class every day. And today, she would be sitting there again, just like always.

 _Ladybug_ would be sitting behind him in class today.

Adrien paced around the length of his room, his hands in his hair, unable to figure out which feeling he should be feeling at the very moment.

Excitement? Guilt? Happiness? Nausea? Back-flipping? Melting into the carpet?

What should he do?!

"About what?" Plagg replied, voice a little muffled from his face being in the middle of his Camembert wheel.

"About Marinette!"

"What do you want to do about it?"

"I don't know what I want to do about it! She's Ladybug! She's Marinette!" He waved his hands in the air for emphasis, vaguely aware that he probably looked like a complete lunatic at the moment.

"And you're Adrien."

"Plagg, that's not helping."

"Sure, it is," Plagg lifted his head up from his cheese and lazily made gestures with his paw, "She's Marinette, and you're Adrien. Her _classmate_ Adrien. All you have to do is be like the classmate you are every day."

"But I'm not just her classmate. I'm her Chat Noir!" He startled a little when he realized what he said, blushing crimson. "I-I mean, I'm Chat Noir! I'm not hers—yet. I mean, that is to say…"

Plagg groaned and buried his head in cheese again. "Oh, _please_."

Adrien paused from his pacing as a thought came to him. Nausea came to the forefront of what he was feeling. "Should I tell her?"

"Tell her what?"

"That I'm Chat Noir. That I know she's Ladybug."

"Sure, why not?" Plagg said simply, laying on top of the Camembert. "No one's stopping you."

"But if I tell her, she'll definitely hate me!" He waved his arms some more. "She didn't want me to know! But I found out!"

"It's not like you did it on purpose," Plagg defended, sounding invested now. "It was going to happen eventually. So just tell her."

There was a pause. Adrien cupped his face in his hands, his eyes going wide.

"But…"

"But what?"

"But she's so _cute_!" he blurted out, horrified. "I'll die! I won't be able to handle it!"

"Uh, kid—"

"Plagg, what should I do?!"

"Well—"

"I'm just so _happy_!" he interrupted, squishing his face with his hands, unable to stop the smile from forming, "she's Ladybug and she's so incredible and I get to see her in school today!" His smile dropped abruptly. "She's going to _hate_ me!"

"Oh, for the love of cheese," Plagg groaned out.

A knock on the door interrupted Adrien's hysteria. "Adrien, it's time to go to school," came Nathalie's voice.

Oh, no. School. Marinette! He wasn't ready!

* * *

Adrien was surviving so far.

So far, meaning, he was surviving while he got out of the car and climbed up the stairs to school. He was surviving while he arrived in the classroom. He was surviving while he took his seat, trying and failing to avoid the glorious view of one Marinette Dupain-Cheng who has yet to notice his entrance because she was excitedly telling Alya something.

He was surviving while Nino greeted him with their usual fist-bump. He was surviving while Alya looked up at him and said good morning. He was surviving until he turned to greet back and came face to face with Marinette who had just looked up from her conversation with Alya.

He died when Marinette said, with a hint of a blush on her adorable face, "Good morning, you dream! I mean, Adrien!"

He was dead when he blurted out, "I love you."

He heard Nino splutter from beside him and saw Alya drop her phone onto her desk. Marinette let out the cutest little squeak and made the prettiest surprised face before he realized what he'd said.

"—yooouuur good morning! I love your good morning, I mean—" he flapped his hands about, feeling like his face was on fire "—it was a really cute greeting, I mean, good, not cute, not that I'm saying you're not cute it's just the greeting was good, not like it was any different from a normal greeting it was just that you said it so I—" they were all just staring at him now, Marinette's face as red as her Ladybug suit "—I'll just stop talking now." He turned around and dropped his face in his hands, refusing to look at his friends.

"Smooth," he heard Plagg whisper sarcastically from inside his jacket.

Adrien was dead, he had died; he wasn't even really alive right now. This was hell and he was dead. Dead in hell.

"Dude, Adrien, you alright?" Nino asked quietly after a few moments, tone tentative.

"Yeah, I'm completely Marinette," Adrien mumbled through his hands.

"You what?"

"I mean, fine! I'm completely fine, Mari—Nino!" he borderline yelled, waving his arms at his friend. Nino looked at him like he was an alien that replaced his best friend, and Adrien couldn't blame him. He didn't really feel like he was Adrien right now either.

He felt the vibrations of Plagg's subdued laughter from within his jacket.

Oh god, the humiliation.

Please, let the ground swallow him whole.

Please, god, take him away from this mortal coil.

* * *

Things were awkward for the rest of the day.

Very awkward.

In fact, things were so awkward that Adrien took it upon himself to employ Chloe as his anti-interaction-with-people shield.

And things were really bad if Adrien considered Chloe clinging onto him like a monkey to a banana tree to be a welcome distraction.

He couldn't look at anyone. Not his classmates, not even Plagg. Looking at Nino just made him feel guilty and looking at Alya just plain scared him. And he especially couldn't look at Marinette. Despite the fact that his eyes always seemed to gravitate towards whichever direction she currently was, he couldn't _look_ at her.

Adrien just didn't know how to deal with all this. There was no manual for this!

After that morning's fiasco, he had managed to embarrass himself a total of seven more times. He counted each and every agonizing moment. It wasn't a lot as a number, but it felt plenty enough.

The first was during roll call, when Ms. Bustier called on his name for attendance. He had hollered, really loudly, "I'm Marinette!" in place of "I'm present!" and had to spend the rest of homeroom with his face on his desk, avoiding everyone's gazes. Plagg had been so delighted that he laughed for a whole five minutes in his jacket.

The second time was during math class when he was asked to write a formula on the chalkboard, and he'd somehow managed to replace all the numbers with letters of Marinette's name. Needless to say, Ms. Mendeleiev and the rest of the class were confused. Thankfully, nobody commented on it. Ms. Mendeleiev merely told him to work on his handwriting and let him go. That was when Alya had begun looking at him suspiciously though.

The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth times, he had referred to several distinctly not-Marinette people as Marinette while talking to Nino on four separate occasions. Mistakenly referring to Juleka as Marinette? Fine. But confidently referring to Principal Damocles as Principal Marinette? Decidedly _not fine_.

Nino wasn't stupid; he _definitely_ knew something was up. He'd brought it up more than once, but Adrien was at a loss on how to explain. Plagg had snickered each time he got a name wrong, so Adrien shoved him in his bag so he can stop feeling the vibrations of the kwami's laughter against his chest.

The seventh time was the worst. It involved Plagg, a croissant, Marinette's shoe, and him tossing said shoe to the other side of the school courtyard. He really would rather not relive the details, thank you very much. But by that time, Alya had switched from watching him suspiciously to full-on glaring at him like he'd just declared he was Hawkmoth.

And these were all before lunch time even rolled around.

So right now, Chloe was his anti-interaction shield. He felt guilty using his oldest friend like this, but he just _could not deal_.

He let Chloe drag him around the rest of the day to do whatever she pleased. They went to have lunch together and after school they went shopping. They were still shopping actually, he vaguely realized, as Chloe dragged him into another shop. All through-out the day, he sent apologetic texts to Nino and promised to tell him things soon. Like, maybe tomorrow. Or next week. Or next year. Or never.

Because how do you explain that you've just discovered your superhero partner's identity and the shock was so bad that it scrambled your brain? Or suddenly being so in love with someone that you were practically mentally incapacitated, when just the other day you were gushing about someone else entirely? At least, in Nino's perspective. He couldn't exactly tell Nino he found out Marinette was Ladybug. Or that he was Chat Noir. He was in enough trouble with Ladybug as it were.

The only person he could tell was Plagg, and Plagg had stopped trying to be helpful the moment he realized watching Adrien flail around was more entertaining than anything.

Besides, Adrien mused as Chloe put a dress up to his chest and commented on how good he'd look in the yellow sundress, all Plagg could tell him to do was tell her he knew. As if it were that simple.

He couldn't even talk to her without making a complete fool of himself. He just blurted out he loved her out of nowhere! No build up or anything. Just blurted it out in the middle of a morning greeting with no preamble.

Thinking about it made him shudder.

Talking to Marinette as Adrien was absolutely out, he decided, as Chloe pushed him into the changing room to try the dress on.

Only one thing to do now, he thought, as he put the yellow sundress on. He was going to have talk to her as Chat Noir.

He looked at himself in the changing room's full-length mirror, absently thinking Chloe was right about him looking good in the dress. The colour really brought out his eyes.

As he examined himself, the yellow sundress falling neatly over his form, he realized he was going to be just fine. He was a handsome, strapping young lad, after all. Hero of Paris! Famous model! He put his fists against his hips and jutted his chest out. There was no way Marinette could resist him. He could totally do it!

What could possibly go wrong?


	3. The Night After Chat Noir Found Out

Thank you all for your wonderful reviews! I may not be able to respond individually but they mean a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter! c:

* * *

 **Chapter 3: _The Night After Chat Noir Found Out_**

* * *

What could possibly go wrong?

Apparently, a lot of things.

He was Chat Noir, after all. Why he ever thought this was a good idea was beyond him.

His plan was to knock on her window, give her his two-finger salute, let her squeal a little because he knew she was a total fangirl deep inside, and maybe flex a little just because he could.

Then he would spend a bit of time with her before easing into the fact that he found out she was Ladybug and that he was actually Adrien Agreste, her classmate.

All this while acting like the cool cat he always was and not the blundering, embarrassing boy he had been that morning.

Simple, to the point, and completely fool-proof, right?

Wrong.

First, because he chose the wrong time to think about possibly seeing Marinette in her pajamas, instead of gracefully landing by her window, he crash-landed onto her rooftop balcony and knocked over two of her potted plants.

Second, the potted plants he just murdered scattered dirt and plant corpses all over her rooftop door.

Third, when Marinette opened the rooftop door, because he made an inordinate amount of noise with his entrance and subsequent incoherent shrieking, all the soil and plants fell on top of her and all over her hair.

And lastly, she was mad. Understandably so. He definitely saw the look of unbridled shock and annoyance on her face before she schooled it into a neutral, but still very scary, expression.

As if there weren't enough things he could get in trouble for tonight.

"Chat Noir," she said, her tone flat, brushing the dirt away from her hair, "to what do I owe the pleasure?"

He stared at her for a moment, uncomprehending. Then, realizing he was just asked a question, he answered with the first thing that came into his head.

"Pajamas!"

It took only a few seconds of introspection to realize what he said. He hit his forehead with the heel of his palm, making a strong, audible smack. Really, Chat Noir? Pajamas? She owed the pleasure of your visit to _pajamas_? Way to sound like a grade-A pervert.

He could hear Plagg's sarcastic 'smooth' comment resound in his head.

Marinette made no move to climb out of her door, possibly to avoid more dirt getting on her, but her neutral expression morphed into confusion, and just a little bit of worry. It made his heart swell. His Lady was worried about him!

…or she was worried that a local superhero randomly showed up on her balcony to murder some plant-life and possibly perv on her in her pajamas.

Well, _that_ didn't make him feel better.

"Are you okay, Chat?" Marinette asked, her head tilted cutely to the side.

He totally meant to say 'This cat is doing pawsome!' with his usual flair, but somehow he ended up scandalously yelling at her, "Stop being so cute!"

Marinette froze.

Chat Noir froze.

Seconds ticked by.

Finally, Marinette slowly extracted herself from her door and carefully made her way onto the roof. She brushed herself off and walked a little closer to him.

"Chat?" she called to him, her brows furrowing. She stared at him, unblinking, possibly waiting for him to explain himself.

He took a deep shuddering breath. Then he started pacing across the small space of the balcony.

He was Chat Noir. Hero of Paris, partner to Ladybug. He faced and fought akuma that people ran away from in terror, and had risked all nine of his lives more than once to protect the city and its inhabitants. To protect Ladybug, the love of his life.

He was totally cool and awesome and he was just going to talk to a girl. This should be a cakewalk.

Well, except it was a girl who happened to be Ladybug in her civilian form. But that shouldn't make any difference. He interacted with Ladybug and Marinette just fine before all this.

Where this nervousness was coming from, he wasn't entirely sure. Maybe it was the guilt that he broke her trust. Accidentally though! And he was here to come clean so being nervous about it defeats the whole purpose of his visit. While he _might_ just be a tad worried that she would make cat soup out of him, that alone wouldn't make him a complete bumbling fool.

Maybe it was the fact that he honestly had no idea how to proceed from an identity reveal. He _did_ have a plan or two (involving a candle-lit dinner on top of the Eiffel tower) but he didn't expect the reveal to be while he was hanging over a fire escape like a piece of laundry and Ladybug being completely oblivious to it, so his plans were now moot.

Maybe he was scared of her rejection.

Pining after Ladybug was one thing. But now that he knew she was Marinette, one of the most amazing people he'd ever met in his life, maybe he was intimidated by the combination of two most incredible girls he knew. Because, not to sound conceited or anything, he probably had a fair chance with either Ladybug or Marinette if they were two separate people.

But Ladybug and Marinette _as one person_? That combo of a girl was definitely out of his league.

Oh.

Oh, okay.

So that was where the nervousness came from.

"Chat Noir?" Marinette tried again after seeing him finally stop pacing on her roof. Bless her for being patient enough to wait his anxiety out.

Still, he mused, he had to talk to her eventually. If he left now, he would have killed a pair of potted plants, made a mess on her balcony, wasted Marinette's time, and ended up looking like a total weirdo, all for nothing. It was now or never.

Breathing deep again, he raised his hand to her, looking away so he could concentrate, and finally managed, "Sorry, can you let me try again?"

Marinette blinked. Adorably. "Oh, um, sure?"

"Great!"

Chat Noir then ushered her back into her room, careful to avoid more dirt getting anywhere else, and vaulted to the neighbouring rooftop.

After a few moments to compose himself—cool cat, he was a super cool, awesome, good-looking cat—and another deep, deep breath, he carefully crossed back over from the next roof onto her window. He peered inside to see Marinette staring up at her trapdoor with a bewildered look. Grinning at how endearing that was, he knocked on the window and gave a two-finger salute when she turned around.

"Hello, purrincess," he purred when she opened her window, just as was planned. Cool cat, cool cat. "How are mew doing this fine evening?"

Marinette gave him a raised eyebrow and an indulgent smile that made him melt inside. She crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head. It was _so_ cute but he was a cool cat, so he composed himself.

"Well," she began with some inflection, "I _was_ doing homework like a good student. But then some weird, giant cat wreaked havoc on my rooftop, so now I have to clean his mess up."

He felt the ears on his head flatten against his hair, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Apawlogies," he said, smiling guiltily. Then he flexed an arm, just as planned, and continued, "This heroic cat can lend you a helping paw with the clean-up," he flexed his other arm, "if you'd be willing to let him in."

"Deal," Marinette replied, giggling a little, and she stepped aside to let him in.

* * *

"By the way, nice pajamas," Chat Noir said, grinning as he gathered the shattered pieces of the pots into his gloved hands.

They were really nice, indeed. Pink with white polka-dots. Just a little too big for her. It made her look like a soft baby Ladybug, ready for a cute little catnap under the covers. The thought gave him such a tangible feeling of delight, he could almost taste it.

Marinette looked up from her sweeping to give him a look of disbelief. Then she grabbed a handful of the dirt in her dustpan and threw it at him.

He dodged expertly and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Ugh," Marinette groaned out, shaking her head, and he was delighted to hear the striking _Ladybug_ -ness of it. Absently, he thought of how he'd never seen or heard her act this way around him as Adrien. It felt like he would've caught onto her being Ladybug earlier if she acted this way around him more often.

Back when he met her as Chat Noir to fight the Evillustrator, she had acted nothing like the tough hero Ladybug she actually was and more like the damsel-in-distress civilian Marinette he apparently knew. He always appreciated that he had one such fangirl in Marinette Dupain-Cheng with all her gushing and swooning that he—

Wait a minute.

He watched her as she separated the plants from the dirt she'd swept up. He looked at her as the moonlight shone against her dark hair and illuminated the soft features that made up her face.

Her cute, _cunning_ face.

Chat Noir felt the grin split across his face before registering the feeling of absolute glee. _She played him_.

Marinette, Ladybug, _played_ him. That time with the Evillustrator, where she'd asked him to protect her; her secret mission had been to be Marinette. She had been _acting_ when she gushed and swooned about working with Chat Noir to save Paris. She had been _pretending_ to be a fangirl to throw him off. She completely, boldly _played him._

 _And he fell for it._

He couldn't explain why that made him so happy, but it did. It was just so adorable and funny and he should totally be disappointed that Ladybug didn't turn out to secretly be a Chat Noir fan. But no, this was amazing. This girl was amazing.

Oh, god, and she'd called _herself_ cute. At him.

'Cute, isn't she?' she had said about herself.

Unable to stop himself, Chat Noir leaned against the closest railing and laughed.

"What's so funny?" Marinette asked from across him, watching him with wary and confused eyes.

He took a deep breath and looked at her to respond… but couldn't stop the next bout of laughter that burst out of him at the sight of her face. _Ladybug_ complimented herself to him! Literally asked him if he thought she was cute!

"N-nothing, princess," he managed out, after another breath. He wiped the tears of laughter that leaked from his eyes. "Just remembering something great."

Marinette narrowed her eyes at him, disbelieving. He could almost see the spotted mask over her face with that expression. Even while holding the broom and the dustpan and wearing soft pink polka-dotted pajamas, she stood just as regal as the red and black spotted hero he fought to protect Paris with.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was _so_ Ladybug.

And Chat Noir was a complete goner.

* * *

Seeing his face plastered all over her walls was definitely something he didn't expect.

It took him a while to notice, being that he couldn't take his eyes off her—she had baby pink polka-dot pajamas on, okay?—the whole time they were cleaning up the mess he made. When they went back into the room and she left to get some snacks, her absence allowed his eyes to wander.

And he was met with his face. And his face. And his face again. And his face once more.

Marinette, _Ladybug_ , had pictures of him, Adrien Agreste, plastered all over her room.

He was going to faint.

What did this mean? What could this possibly mean?

She liked fashion, right? Maybe she liked his father's designs. That made sense, right?

Except it was all him. He wasn't the only person to model his father's designs. Sure, he was at the forefront of most of it, but there were other models. Surely, if she were just interested in her father's designs, she would put up posters of other models and clothes, right?

Was he being conceited in thinking that maybe, _just maybe_ Marinette happened to have a crush on him? On Adrien Agreste?

…nah, couldn't be.

After all, even though he considered her a friend, they didn't really know each other all that well. He always chalked it up to the fact that he made a really bad impression on her on his first day. It probably also didn't help that as a famous model and son to a famous designer, he tended to intimidate quite a number of people, especially those with an interest in the fashion industry.

She couldn't even look at him without stuttering or mixing up her words. Sometimes she even avoided him or seemed downright uncomfortable interacting with him. She hid behind Alya a lot too whenever he approached. There was just no way she'd have a crush on him with the way she was acting.

Funny, thinking about it now, that sounded a bit like how he was this morning. What a strange coinci—

His eyes fell on her desk and all his thoughts halted to a stop.

Was that a picture of him in a photo frame?

On her desk?

Why, yes, Mr. Chat Noir, that was indeed a photo of you smiling gallantly in a nice mahogany picture frame.

But why would she—?

Chat Noir felt his body go slack as a whole universe exploded in his brain. A universe filled with red and black spots and pink pajamas and Marinette and Ladybug and photo frames with his face in them.

He stared reverently at his framed photo on her desk as though it held the secret to life itself. Never had he thought there would come a day when he would worship anything that had his face on it. But here he was, staring at the priceless artifact that just now taught him one of the most valuable truths he could ever know in his life.

The truth that Marinette was totally crushing on him.

The truth that, in some convoluted way, they actually liked each other back.

 _The girl he was in love with had a crush on him._

To wit, Marinette was Ladybug, and she had a crush on Adrien Agreste. He was Adrien, and also Chat Noir, and he was in love with Ladybug. Ladybug, who turned out to be Marinette, liked Adrien, who was Chat Noir. So Ladybug and Adrien liked each other and Marinette and Chat Noir… liked each other?

No, no, Adrien and Marinette liked each other? And Ladybug and Chat Noir liked each other?

No, wait…

Chat Noir liked Ladybug and Marinette liked Adrien and Chat Noir was Marinette and Adrien was Ladybug and Ladybug liked Marinette and Adrien liked Chat Noir and—

Okay, that needed to stop right now.

His brain was going to melt. If it hadn't already.

Just how many revelations was he going to get in the next twenty-four hours? He was just maybe a _teensy-weensy_ bit not properly equipped to handle all this information at once.

He needed to sit down and think. But he couldn't. His whole being was practically buzzing with excitement and something else he couldn't place. Ladybug liked him! What should he do? What did it mean? Could they date now? Bake a cake? Would he become Chat Dupain-Cheng? Would she become Marinette Noir? Lady Agreste? Adrien Bug? Would those names be legal enough for them to adopt kittens together?

He didn't know how long he stood there trying to process this information. His brain managed to calm down for a bit, at the very least, although it managed to fly into a fantasy of him and Marinette becoming a pair of old crazy cat-lovers with twenty-seven cats and a steady diet of cake.

Before he knew it, reality knocked on the door and Marinette was back with a plate of cookies and some milk.

"I hope you like cookies," she said brightly, placing the plate and the milk on her desk. She turned around and frowned when she saw that he hadn't moved from his spot in the middle of her floor and was staring her. "What?"

Chat Noir blinked at her. Okay, be a cool cat. Cool cat. He gulped and casually pointed a thumb at her walls, "So you like models, huh?" His voice totally didn't crack, by the way.

Her face went from its normal colour to a deep, tomato red in under a second. "You weren't supposed to see that!" she shrieked, running over to one of the larger posters and picking desperately at the tape on the edge.

He chortled, just a little, feeling more composed by the second because of her antics. He crossed over the room and took her hand from the poster to pull her away. "Too late to take them down now, princess. Already saw them."

Groaning, his Lady let herself be led away from the poster. "This is so embarrassing."

"So," Chat Noir drawled teasingly, unable to keep the happy grin off his face, "looks like someone's got a crush."

Marinette groaned again, snatching her hand from his to cover her face. "Shut up and eat your cookies."

Still grinning, he obliged good-naturedly, hopping onto her desk chair and snatching up a cookie. Humming happily as he bit into it, he sneakily looked around to find where her kwami could be hiding. He ran his hands over the items on the desk absently, chuckling a little at the framed photo of himself, and accidentally knocked Marinette's computer mouse to the side.

Her monitor came out of sleep mode and, popping the rest of the cookie in his mouth, he looked up curiously…

…to find a collage of his various modelling pictures as her wallpaper. Over a pink background. With pink hearts doodled all over it.

He gasped involuntarily and felt the cookie go down the wrong pipe. He promptly choked and started hacking out bits of cookie all over Marinette's stuff.

Ladybug had a collage of himself as a wallpaper on her computer!

And he just hacked chewed cookie bits on it!

"Chat!" Marinette cried in an admonishing tone as she rushed over to thump him on his back. He painfully hacked away the cookie in his throat with the help of her thumping. "What are you even doing?" She left his side for a bit and poured some milk in a glass and handed it to him.

"Sorry," he croaked, accepting the glass gratefully, all the while avoiding her gaze. In just how many more ways could he make a fool of himself today?

He honestly couldn't tell if this day was going incredibly well or irredeemably awful. He learned some pretty amazing things, but he'd also caused quite a bit of trouble. And he'd barely even been here an hour. His brain was still not functioning properly and he was starting to think that it was a terrible idea to come see Marinette before he'd properly assessed the situation.

He watched Marinette fuss over her belongings gingerly with a tissue as he drank his milk in guilty silence. She turned to the computer monitor and (cutely) wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You just coughed chewed cookie chunks all over Adrien," she said, frowning as she wiped.

Then under her breath, with a voice so soft he barely heard it even with his enhanced hearing, she added, "Now I can never kiss it again."

He choked again and spat milk all over her.

" _CHAT!_ "

"Sorry!"


	4. Still The Night After Chat Found Out

Sorry for the delay! Marichat May took up most of my May, as well as school stuff. So far Ladrien June hasn't overtaken me yet, but that's just because school just got even crazier. When will I be free? No one knows...

Thank you for all the reviews, by the way! I'm very happy to hear your thoughts. You are all wonderful and I'm glad you're all enjoying the mess that is our Sunshine Cat Child.

Also, watch out. Things get serious this chapter. Way serious.

* * *

 **Chapter 4: _Still The Night After Chat Noir Found Out_**

* * *

Chat Noir already knew too much.

After everything was cleaned up—again—and Marinette had changed out of her milk-soaked shirt, Chat Noir decided it was time to finally confess his sins. Because Ladybug totally had a crush on him too and there was nothing to fear anymore.

Except maybe her wrath for betraying her trust, but he was sure she wouldn't kill him if he explained it was a complete accident. She would surely understand and not decide to murder him. Probably. Hopefully.

But just as he was starting to speak, Marinette let out a despondent sigh, and he was forced to hold his tongue on the matter. Instead, he asked, "Something wrong?"

Marinette looked at him sideways from her chaise and then flopped down on it. "Since you're here, Chat," she said as she buried her face in her throw pillow, "I hope you don't mind if I ask your advice on something."

He frowned at her tone and rolled the desk chair he was perched on closer to her. Helping his Lady always came before any of his own agendas. "What is it, princess?"

"Well," Marinette began, sitting up and hugging her pillow to her chest, "Today, my, uh, crush acted really weird."

Oh, crap. Chat Noir looked sideways at the framed picture of himself on her desk and gulped. This was about the fiasco from this morning. Because of course, it was.

"Yeah, him," she said, nodding at the photo, and then sighed his name with such strong yearning that he almost fell out of his chair, " _Adrien_ …"

Okay.

No.

Well.

Maybe yes.

Definitely yes.

But also no.

His heart was bursting with delight and his face was on the verge of catching on fire from how hot it was. His insides were warm, fuzzy gloop. His whole body was practically buzzing. The way she said his name just now should be made illegal in Paris. No, in the whole world, all across the continents. It just shouldn't be allowed, period. For his sake.

It took all his will-power not to tackle her right then and there and squeeze her to him until they've basically fused into one, big Marichat entity. No, he was a cool cat. No matter how much he wanted to pounce on her and cuddle her until daybreak, he really shouldn't. It was highly inappropriate.

"What—" he started but his voice came out an embarrassingly higher octave, so he cleared his throat and tried again, "What happened?"

Marinette blinked out of her love-sick expression (caused by him!) and returned to looking unhappy. "This morning he was really weird," she began, twiddling her thumbs, "I think I misunderstood something because he, um, he—" her voice rose in pitch "—hesaidIloveyoutomeeeEEE!" She ended with a scream and slammed her face into her pillow. And then continued screaming.

Well, then.

Chat Noir completely understood, though. If Ladybug randomly blurted out 'I love you' to him, he would have instantaneously combusted. But it would have been a happy combustion. Marinette was clearly not happily combusting as of the moment and he had a rising suspicion as to why that was.

It wasn't long before his Lady stopped screaming into her pillow. She straightened up, then looked up at him, expression embarrassed. "S-Sorry about that," she gasped out, face red, "it's just… I've always dreamt he'd say those three words to me, you know?"

He tried very hard to keep his face neutral as he cooed at her internally. She was so adorable and precious and he vowed that, once everything has been cleared up, he will say those words to her every day for as long they lived.

"But—"

He blinked at her hazily. But what?

"—he took it back immediately afterwards…" Marinette trailed off, looking down at her hands, her expression so crestfallen that it broke his heart into a million pieces. And made him irrationally angry.

What a jerk! What kind of guy tells a girl he loves her and then takes it all back?! If it were him, he would never—

Crap, wait.

That _was_ him.

That morning he had said 'I love you' and then immediately took it back.

It was all him.

Chat Noir resisted the urge to toss himself in the trash where he rightfully belonged.

"I mean, I don't know," his Lady said quietly, still not looking up. Which was good, because he really didn't know what expression he had on his face right now. Today was a rollercoaster ride and he was stuck on the loop-the-loop. "Like I said, I might have misunderstood things." Her face scrunched up, and she let out a small, quite bitter sounding laugh, and continued, "I mean, why would he suddenly 'love' _me_? It's not like he even noticed me before today."

He opened his mouth to protest, to tell her that _of course he had_ ; he'd noticed she was kind, brave, strong-minded, pretty, and overall _amazing_ even before he knew she was Ladybug. But Marinette had gotten up, started pacing, and continued talking, her voice getting higher and her words coming out faster, giving him no space to interrupt.

"Today was so frustrating! It was complete torture! He kept saying my name out of nowhere and I was so hyper-aware of his presence because of that! But then even while that was going on he was completely ignoring me and then Alya said he stole my shoe and threw it away! I had to walk home with mismatched shoes! _And then_ the rest of the day he got all cozy with Chloe and even went on a date with her! She sent texts to everyone bragging about it and they took selfies and they went shopping and they looked like they had so much fun and I know there's nothing between us but it still really, really hurts!"

Chat Noir didn't know what to say. Not that there was anything to actually say. He'd been so focused on his own dilemma that he never realized just how his actions would've looked like to an outside observer; to Marinette—who, as it turned out, had a crush on him this whole time.

"I definitely misunderstood something," she whispered to her hands, and she stopped pacing to drop back down her chaise. To his absolute shock and horror, tears had formed in her eyes. "I shouldn't have let my hopes up even for one moment. No matter how nice that one moment had been…"

There go the shattered pieces of his heart. Her words ground them to dust. They were just dust now. Infinitesimal pieces of heart dust, scattered in the wind. Irrecoverable. Lost in the void.

He could only imagine the state of _her_ heart.

Even if Marinette were not his Ladybug, he wouldn't have been okay with this. He'd messed up really bad. Like, worse than dead potted plants and milk spat all over her.

He'd hurt her.

Will there ever be a trash can big enough for a piece of garbage his size?

"Tomorrow," Marinette choked out, clenching her fists, and he wanted nothing more than to put his hands over them and squeeze, "I don't know what I'll do if… if they come to class holding hands or announcing they're official. I don't think I can take it."

Chat Noir wanted to scream that it would _never_ happen. He didn't even like Chloe that way! He only liked one person and that was Ladybug. And _she_ was Ladybug.

But he was stuck where he was because he couldn't trust himself to move or say anything. He wasn't sure what other things he'd end up making a mess of if he even tried breathing in her direction.

"But," she said, wiping at her eyes, her voice a little harder even as she sniffled, "there's really not much I can do if he likes someone else, you know? I think the most I can do is stop Alya from murdering him tomorrow." She smiled, like she just told her own private joke, and finally turned her bluebell eyes to his.

Caught by surprise, his breath hitched. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Marinette furrowed her brows at him, then after a few moments of staring at him, she gasped and covered her mouth, as though realizing something. "Oh, no, Chat! I'm so sorry!" she cried, sounding genuinely apologetic, "I didn't mean to vent to you like that. That must have been so uncomfortable."

"NO!" he exclaimed loudly before he could stop himself. Marinette flinched back, stunned, and he raised his hands in a pacifying gesture. "I-I mean, there's nothing to apologize for, my La—princess. It's just…" Quickly, he deliberated with himself in his head, wondering if he should come clean now.

Chat Noir wanted to bust out with the truth, just like ripping off a band-aid.

Adrien Agreste wanted to gently ease her into the truth, as that was the considerate thing to do.

(And, in one corner of his mind, he heard that Plagg wanted to eat some cheese, because he was hungry.)

In the end, there was a compromise, and Chadrien decided that they would gently come out with the truth, no easing, just straight-forwardness and honesty, _nicely_ so as not to shock her, but also _quickly_ so the situation wouldn't escalate further.

'Marinette,' he would say, voice deep yet soft, and laced with his love for her, 'I know for a fact that you did not misunderstand anything. Adrien does love you."

'What makes you say that, pretty kitty?' she would ask, her beautiful bluebell eyes sparkling under her long luscious lashes.

'Because, my princess, my Lady,' he would reply, cool as a movie hero coming back home from a mission to blow up an asteroid about to hit the Earth. He would kiss her hand and quietly release his transformation, finishing with, 'I am Adrien Agreste, and I've always loved you.'

Marinette's eyes would form tears again, but they would be happy tears. 'Oh, _Adrien_ ,' she would gasp out with that yearning that made his insides gloopy, 'I love you too!'

He would open his arms to her and she would fall into them, her smile as bright as the morning sun. Then they would gaze into each other's eyes and find the infinite beauty of the universe in their togetherness.

And then they would live happily ever after.

The end.

Beautiful, straight to the point, no shortcuts or lies, and a happy ending.

Perfect.

Except, he was Chat Noir, embodiment of bad luck and destruction. Hence, the very moment he opened his mouth to begin his happy ending, luck decided it was the perfect time for a phone to suddenly start ringing.

Confused and mildly miffed at the interruption, he whipped his head around to search for the offending phone and Cataclysm it.

"That's my phone!" Marinette yelped and scrambled up to her loft. He watched glumly as Marinette groped around her bed-sheets for her phone and clumsily tap at it. "Oh, it's Alya." He sighed as she picked up the call, a hand held up to him apologetically, and began a conversation. He nodded at her and turned his chair around to give her some privacy.

He tuned out sadly to the soft sounds of Marinette conversing on the phone.

His happy ending was so close, and a phone call had to ruin it.

Why did he ever think things would be that easy?

It felt like his whole life had turned on its head in the past day and a half. He learned of his true love's real identity by accident, and he learned that she reciprocated his feelings, also by accident. In the same vein, he also learned that he had a great capacity to make a mess of a lot of things. By accident. He killed her plants by accident. He spat milk on her by accident. He broke her heart by accident.

Basically, today he learned that he was a great big (albeit good-looking) ball of accidents waiting to happen.

"—what?!" came Marinette's voice, cutting him off from his musings. He turned to see her hurriedly climbing back down from her loft, looking at him with a horrified expression, phone held against her ear. "Y-you're coming over?!" He stiffened up, staring back at her in subdued panic. "You're _at the door_?!"

As if on cue, a woman's voice sounded from the floors below. "Marinette! Alya's here!"

Marinette let out a yowl that sounded like a cross between a new-born crying for the first time and a cat having his tail stepped on by a neglectful human.

With his hearing, he heard Alya's surprised, "Girl, what was that?" from both the phone in Marinette's hand and the floor below them.

Chat Noir sat frozen in his panic, knowing very well that he should move but was unable to get his limbs from working. Meanwhile, Marinette had dropped her phone and was now waving her arms frantically between him and the window, as though trying to articulate something.

"Chat Noir!" she whispered urgently at him, and he stared at her with wide eyes, "go! Window, go—"

There was a knock on her trapdoor, and they both stiffened, eyes trained on each other. "Marinette, open up! Why is your door locked?" came Alya's muffled voice.

Marinette let out a quieter version of her new-born and cat yowl and approached him to roll the desk chair he was on to the window. At that point, Chat Noir finally got his limbs working, and he grabbed at the windowsill mere moments before Marinette could crash him straight into the glass and throw him out four floors down.

"Marinette?" came Alya's voice again, and the trapdoor rattled against its locks.

Chat Noir could practically hear horror movie violin music punctuate the panic they both felt at that sound.

"Uh, I come!" Marinette said shakily, then corrected herself, "I mean, I'm coming! I'm just—" she fumbled with the window's locks just as he did the same, effectively blocking either of them from actually opening it "—not decent!"

She grunted in irritation and smacked his hands away from the window. He let out a "Hey!" of surprise, a little louder than necessary.

She squeaked and slammed both hands to his mouth, just as he did the same. Now both of their hands were on his face, and not opening the window. They stared at each other again, and he vaguely wondered how they managed to get themselves in this situation.

"…girl, what was that?" came Alya's voice again, quieter and more contemplative this time.

"No one!" Marinette yelled a little too quickly, and then paled as he pushed against her hands in an effort to tell her that was a dumb thing to say, "I mean, nothing! I mean, there's no one else here! It's just me, hahaha!"

Alya didn't respond, much to their relief.

They stood against the window for a while, just staring at each other, their breathing in sync. Chat Noir felt the furious beat of her pulse from her wrists. He also smelled the scent of cookies and milk on her fingers against his mouth. He couldn't help himself—he subtly puckered his lips against her fingers in a very light kiss.

His Lady gave him a glare, obviously having felt it, to which he responded with an unapologetic wink. She took her hands away, huffing, and quietly pulled the window open, giving him a subtle push. He mouthed a 'sorry' as he put a foot against the windowsill. She responded with shooing motions with her hands, and he chuckled a little because that was way too adorable.

Quickly deciding that he couldn't possibly ruin anything more for the night, he grabbed one of her hands and laid a kiss on it, just as he usually did for Ladybug. "I'll see you later, princess," he murmured, his lips brushing against her skin, and grinned at the rolling of her eyes in response.

"Just go," Marinette muttered, but didn't sound displeased. She lightly pushed him out the window and he laughed as he deftly mounted it backwards—

"Is that Chat Noir's butt?" came a disbelieving voice from directly below him.

Alya's voice.

Chat Noir gulped and slowly craned his head to look back below him, desperately hoping that it was just his imagination. He found, to his horror, that he was not imagining it, and that Alya _was_ looking back up at him. More accurately, Alya was looking up at his _butt_ from a window on the floor below.

He whipped his head around to face Marinette and she looked like she was going to have a conniption. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, and her lips were pursed together shakily, as though to prevent a scream from spilling out.

Just how many things could he possibly make a mess of _in one day?!_

"Marinette," Alya called slowly from below, and he looked back down to find that Marinette's _parents_ had joined Alya at the window to view his assets, "why is Chat Noir's butt hanging from your window?"

* * *

I hope you enjoy the cliffhanger. Or should I say... _butthanger_?


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